Effects of World War I on France

France had the most casualty percentage of deaths comparing to all the other participants. The tough losses in people destroyed the entire generation of the Frenchmen. There were about 1,697,800 total deaths and France felled behind Germany and England in population during 19th century. Thus they weren’t able to support wartime losses. It was horrible because of the quantity of young men who were killed in the battle.

Due to so many losses the country’s birthrate dropped from the consecutive years including thousands of children that became orphans.

Most of the wounded people became with psychological problems due to the horrifying moment at the war.

Infrastructural damage

France suffered of incalculable property damage since a great deal of the war was on the western front took place at French land. Some areas in France we too badly damaged to even start rebuilding.

Economy

France’s economy after World War 1 was ruined. The loss of manpower for production and also the wreck of agricultural land, bought to an increased need for imports from the other countries.

The state spent a huge amount of money to get medical care for the millions of wounded that had survived the war.

The war against Germany at the western front was fought mainly in France, which caused a drop in economy. France experienced a dramatic decrease in manpower; infrastructure and agriculture were likewise damaged due to bombardments and trench warfare. These all contributed to the heavy decline in economy.

Social

France received the worst blow out of all the powers. With a population of 40 million, half a million died and 700 thousand were disabled. Nearly every family have lost at least one member of the family. (Keiger)

Political

After the Treaty of Versailles was signed, it was agreed that Germany should take full responsibility of the war, and therefore had to pay reparations to France. Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France and all German troops were removed from Rhineland, the land on both sides of the Rhine River which ran in between Germany and France. France limited the Germany military, which caused a strong hate from Germany to arise, which later became a contributing factor to WW2.

Environmental

Mortar and artillery bombardments destroyed many houses and villages. They also destroyed wine orchards and agricultural areas, which caused damage economically. Because much of the war was fought in France, there were many discarded shells and mines underneath the ground which had to be dug up and disarmed before the land could be used.

Citation

St. Rosemary Educational Institution. "Effects of World War I on France." http://schoolworkhelper.net/. St. Rosemary Educational Institution, Last Update: 2016. Web. Retrieved on: Wednesday 7th December 2016. http://schoolworkhelper.net/effects-of-world-war-i-on-france/.